Knowledge Management System for Multilingual Health Content

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The aim of the proposed project is to develop an advanced, web-based knowledge management system for the creation and distribution of multilingual, patient-oriented documents. The system provides a vast library of pre-translated documents and document templates for medical, educational, and administrative materials used in patient-care. System users will be able to customize existing documents in the library, create new documents, disseminate materials within their institution, and share multilingual resources with other institutions. Quality assurance methods that directly engage patients and healthcare providers are implemented to safeguard the quality of the multilingual content. During this Phase II project, the research team will generate a library of over several hundred custom- designed documents in English and render them into over a dozen frequently encountered foreign languages. The system will be field-tested at a diverse group of healthcare facilities, generating a wealth of data that will allow the research team to evaluate its impact on the provision of language assistance services, the quality of patient care, and patient-provider communication. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The aim of this project is to create an advanced knowledge management system for the creation and distribution of multilingual documents. This web-based system will be accessible to medical facilities of all sizes and geographic locations. Given the current shortage of language services and translated materials for limited English proficiency (LEP) patients, this innovative system offers institutions the necessary resources to provide linguistically concordant care to a diverse patient population. Proper communication is instrumental in ensuring quality care for patients with LEP and low functional health literacy. Improved patient-provider communication can serve to mitigate such adverse health outcomes as extended length of stay, increased frequency of diagnostic tests, misdiagnosis, and general dissatisfaction with healthcare.